St. Petersburg, FL., March 2 — The 6,500-plus fans attending the Devil Rays spring home opener vs. the Yankees in St. Petersburg today were doubly blessed, particularly the many Yankee fans among them. On the one hand the widely predicted showers coming from the north and west never arrived. And coming from the east, almost the entire starting roster of the Bombers appeared, making the brief road trip often reserved to just a handful of the frontline players. Continue reading →

St. Petersburg, Fla., March 7 — The anticipated showers unfortunately did develop, but we enjoyed our day at Al Lang Stadium (for us, the non-Yankee Jewel in the Florida Baseball Crown) anyway, largely based on the exploits of Brandon number one, the lefty Brandon Claussen. The Rocket started and he was good, but the pesky Rays were taking his hard stuff the other way enough to scratch out single runs in all three of his innngs. (FYI, the Rays dealt Roger two of his three 2001 losses, and they would have won a third if not for a late Luis Sojo miracle double that preserved Clemens’s drive to 20-1.)
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